The habits of happiness | Matthieu Ricard

This video is a Ted Talk featuring Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk, who has spent many years studying happiness. Here he shares some of his findings with us, which should allow us to cultivate more happiness in our lives.

Best quotes

5:41 “I think the best definition, according to the Buddhist view, is that wellbeing is not just a mere pleasurable sensation. It is a deep sense of serenity and fulfilment. A state that actually pervades and underlies all emotional states, and all the joys and sorrows that can come one’s way.”

7:41 “When things go wrong, we try to fix the outside so much, but our control of the outer world is limited, temporary, and often, illusory. So now, look at inner conditions. Aren’t they stronger? Isn’t it the mind that translates the outer condition into happiness and suffering? And isn’t that stronger?”

12:27 “Mind training is based on the idea that two opposite mental factors cannot happen at the same time. You can go from love to hate. But you cannot, at the same time, toward the same object, the same person, want to harm and want to do good. You cannot, in the same gesture, shake hands and give a blow. So, there are natural antidotes to emotions that are destructive to our inner well-being.”

19:16 “Mind training matters. This is not just a luxury. This is not a supplementary vitamin for the soul. This is something that’s going to determine the quality of every instant of our lives. We are ready to spend 15 years achieving education. We love to do jogging, fitness. We do all kinds of things to remain beautiful. Yet we spend surprisingly little time taking care of what matters most—the way our mind functions—which, again, is the ultimate thing that determines the quality of our experience.”

For more on happiness, check out this post: 10 Tried and True Happiness Boosters

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